Sethi sees Shahryar as next PCB chief

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi hopes that Shahryar Khan gets elected as the next PCB chief saying his vast cricket and diplomatic experience will be an asset to the board.

Sethi said the next Chairman who so ever gets elected should follow the merit-based yardsticks he had left behind.Speaking about the criticism Sethi faced on his decision to call-up Younis Khan to the ODI squad for Sri Lanka despite the captain and coach being against his decision, Sethi said the selectors accepted their error of judgment in awarding him (Younis) B category and accepted my intervention to set the record straight by granting him A category.

“See how Younis has paid us back by scoring 177 in his very first outing in the first Test against Sri Lanka,” he told Pakpassion.net.

Talking about the PCB’s standing amongst the ICC and fellow administrators, Sethi said PCB was in a good condition when he came along. “ICC administrators used to joke about some of our ex-chairmen but thank God all that is behind us now,” he said.

Listing his achievements as PCB Chairman, Sethi said he was able to cleanse the PCB of over 140 redundant employees at a saving of about Rs 6m per month.

“This saving enabled me to increase the salaries of the remaining staffers by about 10%, increase pensions of ex-Test cricketers by about 30% on average, give a stipend of Rs 5,000 per month to 50 top Under-16 cricketers, increase Central Contract salaries of the National Team squad by 25% etc,” he said.

Sethi said he appointed the best national and international coaches and empowered them to train and select the best cricketers in the country along with the new selection committees of untainted and respected ex-Test cricketers.

“We have ended Pakistan’s isolation in international cricket and become the 4th most powerful member of the ICC and we have signed FTP contracts worth $400-500 million over the next eight years, which is an unprecedented feat,” he said.

Sethi said next year we shall sit in the chair of the President ICC. “Pakistan Super League is about to become a wonderful and exciting reality in the months to come,” he said.